Pulper.



" J. L. WALTON.

PULPER. APPLLQATION FILED JULYG, 1907. RENEWED MAY 25, 1909.

Patented July 13, "1909.

, zsunmsesrmm 1.

.INVENTOR J- L..Wa lf'on' ti'omey S r JOSEPH LENARD WALTON,

or rmo n, CALIFORNIA.

'PULPER.

'- Specification of Letters Patent.

Iatented July 13, 1909.

Application filed July 5, 1907, Serial 30-382375. Renewed May 25, 1909.Serialiio. 498,373. v

. rovements in pulpers; and more particuarly to that class adapted to beused in preparing gun cotton and my object is to provide a device ofthis class whereby the cellulose used as the body of the guncotton willbe thoroughly disintegrated during the process of nitration. I Y

A'further object is to provide means .for adjusting the artsofthepulpingmechananlsm and a still further object is to provide meansfor removing the guncotton from the pulper when the 25 same has beenthoroughly nitrated. l Other objects'andadvantages will behereinafterreferred to, and more particularly;

pointed out in the claims.

In the accomplanyingidrawings which are made a part of t is cationpligurel is a top plan view of my improved form of pulper complete. Fig.2is a side elevationthereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view as seen on line-33, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is asectional view as seen on line 44, Fig. 1 andFig. 5 is a plan view of a plate employed in connection with the devicei'or pu ping purposes. I It has been the custom heretofore in ing theacids with the guncotton to employ certain classes of jars or nitratingcentrifu 'gals and it has been found in employing this I term ofapparatus, that portions of the cot: ton Wlll not become thoroughlysaturatedwith the acids, thereby forming what, is F known as lownitrates, Which will result in dc-.

composition and the powder so formed will not stand. the heat test andto this end I have provided my improved .i'orm ol' pulper, whichconsists of a tank 1; which is preferably oblong an d has curved endwalls 2 andB. A vertical partition t extends through the central portionof the tank and is of less length than the tank, to form passages 5 and,6 around the ends ol the partition. Extending laterally through.th'ecentral portion of arrow 19 in Fig. 4

the tank 1 is a shaft 7, on which is mounted a.

' drum 8 said-drum being. located between one side wall of the tank andthe partition 4 and the periphery of the drum is" rovided with aplurality 'of blades '9, w ich are adapted to cooperate .with'aplurality of ribs 10, carried by aplate 11,sa1dplate.and'

ribs being fixed to a raised portion 1216f the bottom of the tank andtheplate and ribs thereon. are curved to conform to the peripheralsurface of the drum; 8. The shaft 7 is extended through slots 13in theside walls of the tank and the. partition 4 and the outer ends thereofare supported in bearings 14 whichare in turn supported on the 1; erends of screws 15, said screws passlng through ears 16 carried by thesidewalls of the tank and by thiswonstruction it willbe seen that thedrum 8 may be readily adjusted toward or from the ribs onthe plate 11.,therebygiving a finer or coarser granula passing between the tion to thecellulose drum and the ribs.

' In operation, a pro-determined qi'xantity of i n introduced into thetank through any suit- Y a proper mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid isable form of feed pi e 17, after which the dis integrated materia isintroduced ,into the tank. through an o ening 18 and by rotating thedrumin the ireetion indicated by the i of the drawing, said mate rial willbe passed between thev blades on the periphery of the drumand :the ribson the a plate 10, thereby thoroughly disintegrating the material whileimmerse in the acid. The drum 8 traveling in the-direction indicated,will agitate the acid and form a current from end to end oi the tank, asindicated by 'the arrow 20 in- Fig. 3 of the drawings.

; The raised portion 12 0i the bottom of the tank at-the right of thedrum 8, is elevated to a point co-incident to the depth of the acid inthe tank and, the disintegrated material after passing between the drumand plate is thrown over the elevated end 21 of the raised portion 12onto a grate 22, which is hingedly secured at one end immediately belowthe end 21, while'the opposite end thereofis provided with an angu arguard 23, so that the said. materialwill be gathered on the grate andheld until such time as it is desired to remove the completed product.The free end of the grate 22 is also provided with an arm 24 to the freeend'of which is secured a rod 25', by which means the grate is raised orlowered and by lowering the free end of the loo grate while the pulpingprocess is being per- 1 a point formed, the disintegrated particles (iinit material will still remain immersed in theacid'when deposited uponthe grate 22 and after the pulping process is completed, the grate 22 iselevated to a-horizontal o'sition and in alinement with the lower e goof a port 26 in one wall of the tank, said port being normally closed bymeans of a door 27, a spout 28'being secured to the outer wallof t etank, so that the product may be more readily removed through the port.The cellulose'is introduced mto the tank at between one of the walls ofthe tank and the partition 4 and adjacent the drum '8, so that thecellulose will pass directly into engagement with the drum and as thegrate retains the disintegrated particles, that por- 4 I tion of thefluid at the opposite side of the,

partition from that occupied by the drum 8 will be substantiallyfree-from the cellulose.

: It will be seen that by causing the acid to with more or less force.The amount of acid travel from end to end of the tank, the material onthe grate will be thoroughly saturated with the acid as the acid inpassing overthe end 21 will'engage the material on the grate I 1 -emloyed depends upon the quantity of material placed in the tank and thestated proportion issubstantially 75 'ounds of the acid to 1 pound ofsaid material, and at the removal of. each batch of the preparedguncotton from the acid mixture, a certain amount oi the acid is removedtherewith, thereby requiring the constant replenishing of the acidmixture, which may be regulated by means of a glass gage 29, which ispreferabl secured to one side wall of the tank an hasthereon, wherebythe amount of graduations the tank maybe readily ascerthe acid intained. I

The up er surface of the tank 1 is provided with suitable ventilators30, throu h which fumes of the acid escape, while tie opening 18 isprovided with a-lid 31 to prevent fumes irom esca ing throughthe'opening. The cover of t e tank 1 is also provided with a pluralityof transparent sections'32 of lass, mica, or similar substance, so thata view of the interior of the tank may be readily had. By this manner ofmixing the material with the acid, it will be seen that disintegratedmaterial will be thoroughly saturated with the acid, thereby obviatingany possibility of decomposition of the guncotton drum, a grate Theblades 9 and the ribs 1 0 are preferably constructed of metal, so thatthey-will not become easily broken and will thoroughly separate theparticles of cellulose passed between the drum and plate, and the ribs10 are inclined from the central portion of the plate 11 to the outeredge thereof, thereby formin said ribs substantially V-shaped. at Iclaim is:

' '1'. A pulping engine of the character described, comprising -a tankhaving a midfeather, a suitably driven drum equipped with perimetricradial blades, a plurality of ribs arranged below said drum, a concavedupraised member arranged under said drum and equipped with said ribs,and a grate hinged orivotedat one, end to said upraised mem er at itsdelivery end, the opposite end ofsaid grate being suspended from,andhaving connected thereto an adjusting screw-threaded member workingin a fixed screw-threaded sleeve.

2. In a device as described, a tank having a longitudinal centralpartition therein wit its ends arranged short distances from the ends ofsaid tank, a suitably driven drum having radial perimetric ribs thereonand ac'oncaved up-raised portion in the bottom of said tank "equippedwith a series of ribs adapted for coaction'with the ribs on said havingone end pivoted at the delivery end of said up-raised portion, and anadjusting means for controlling the disposition of said grates 3. In adevice as described, a tank having arranged therein 'a longitudinalcentral partition with its ends stopping at short intervals from theends of said tank, a suitably driven drum equipped with a series ofradial ribs, a concaved up-raised portion arranged in said tank, belowsaid drum andprovided with a series of ribs'adapted for cooperation withsaid drum,'a grate hinged at the delivering end of said raised portionand provided with anupstandi'ng guard, and an adjusting screw pivotallyconnected to the outer end of said rate.

In testimony w ereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

I JOSEPH LENARD WALTON. Witnesses l J. P. BARRETT, J\ W. Townns.

